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10 Reasons Why You Should Read Worm (a Web Serial) Right Now

Published June 18, 2016 by Quirk

This article has been written by Sakhi Shah (Batch of 2017).

You should probably not read my list and just skip to reading Worm. But if you really need a reason …

Web serials are the future. Yes, Quirk isn’t the only thing that is moving online (ha!) novels are, too. Web serials are a great way for relatively unknown writers to do offbeat, cool things that traditional publishers wouldn’t accept but that readers love.

Web serials are also the past. Know who else wrote his novels in the form of serials? Charles Dickens.

Worm is about superheroes. It is about fun, witty, creative superheroes. Check out some of the most fun superheroes recently – they haven’t had the best powers (Superman is boring) but they’ve had absolute rubbish powers like turning into the size of an ant and done fun things with them. That is Worm for you, in a nutshell.

The main character of Worm can control bugs. She uses it to take on (spoilers) the Superman-equivalents of that world. She wins. Enough said.

There’s no good and bad in Worm, just different shades of grey. For a small time there the author had me sympathizing with the white-supremacist. His interludes, posted from the point of view of different characters, really add to the story. Game of Thrones fans will enjoy.

Like all the best superhero stories, Worm isn’t just about superheroes. It deals with very complex issues like racism, class conflicts, disasters, morality, and really bad leaders. Worm mirrors our society in ways that are beautiful and occasionally disturbing. Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Worm: “Why is it that the people who are most concerned about good and bad are the ones who have the least idea what they mean?”

Worm has some of the most seriously terrifying super villains I have ever encountered. This is helped by the fact that people have really cool and unique powers, but seriously, the Slaughterhouse 9 can give anyone nightmares. The author doesn’t need gore to scare you.

Worm has a breakneck pace. Poor Taylor never catches a break, but it’s a delight to see her battle enemies that are bigger and stronger and smarter each time because the character progression is so natural and believable. And because of its unique format, you can read one chapter a few times a week like it was originally published or binge read it and *cough* waste a month of your life *cough*.

Everything makes sense in Worm. By the end, you will be in awe of how well everything has been plotted in Worm and how much the world and the events have an internal consistency rarely seen even in published novels.

Worm is already an underground hit and has a cult following on the internet (don’t believe me? Check out r/parahumans, TV tropes, or this fan made Worm audiobook). In my opinion, it is a book deal or tv series deal away from becoming a mainstream classic. When it does, remember, you heard it first from me!

Not a fan of superheroes? I mean, it doesn’t really matter because you should still read Worm, but you can check out some of my other favorite web-serials – Mother of Learning (Groundhog Day, set in a magical school), Midnight Moonlight (the book Twilight should have been), and Ra (for everyone who enjoys magic explained in a more scientific fashion).